A raft or litter of somewhat similar construction to the one shown and described herein is disclosed in my prior U.S. Pat. No. 3,887,953. It was originally intended for use primarily in rescue missions for expeditiously transporting an injured person from point of mishap to an ambulance or point of medical facilities. As an example, the raft might be used as a standby unit on duty at power boat races to facilitate the safe and speedy rescue of injured drivers.
It has been found that under some circumstances, in close quarters for example, it is desirable to use a stretcher in combination with the litter, as a removable piggyback unit. In accordance with the present invention, a piggyback stretcher is secured to the deck of the litter. Accordingly, a victim may be lifted from the litter by means of the stretcher, and another stretcher may then be secured to the deck of the litter and the stretcher-litter combination sent back to the point of need.
The stretcher-litter combination is relatively light in weight so that it may be easily manipulated in and out of the water and may be of a size to accommodate one person or more than one person. The deck of the stretcher is disposed close to the level of the water when the litter and stretcher are afloat, so that by slightly depressing the rear end, a victim may be readily floated abroad. The stretcher-litter is highly maneuverable in the water, and is easily manageable on shore so that a victim may be transferred to an ambulance by removing the stretcher and victim from the litter.
Other objects and features of the invention will become more apparent as this description proceeds, especially when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein;